Saturday, 4 April 2015

Envy...the new oxygen?

DISCLAIMER: All opinions/ideas/solutions mentioned in this posts are by-products of an ignorant mind hence if you drag me to the court of law I shall stick out my tongue and chant "ITS MY OPINION, LEARN TO DEAL WITH IT" but you are more than welcome to disagree. This post is written while holding all the other possible factors effecting the situation constant, for those who know economics, can identify it as Ceteris Paribus (while rest google it). And POSITIVE criticism is always welcome. By far the era that we now live in is the most civilized one, and is to some extent, an epitome of human advancement. But if we look in closely, has anything really changed? Have we given up on the vices that have been stigmatizing humanity from the very beginning, such as lying, cheating, stealing, backbiting, murdering, greediness, selfishness, ruthlessness, and along with the never ending list our old friend- envy?

Giving up is exactly the opposite of what we have done. The so called human evolution has only changed the circumstances, not the well rooted traits. The only difference is that now we quip about others over a cup of coffee or while grabbing a bite at our favorite food joint rather than doing so in our not-so-comfy caves and over our freshly hunted meals. We have gone to the extent of shamelessly concealing our habit of backbiting by giving it fun names like "Gossip Sessions". Now you must be wondering that this post was about envy where did gossiping come from? Well here is the twist, in my very small opinion from which you are most welcome to differ with, backbiting and envy are like heart and body, one can't exist without the other. Ever wonder why do we feel the need to talk about someone or something someone is doing even though it has nothing to do with us? I guess we do so as somewhere in the back of our minds it's something we would like to do ourself but can't, or may be because we consider that person better off than us in some way or more liberated or perhaps a projection of our ideal self or maybe their behavior isn't that different from ours, something we might do ourself if we weren't barred from it. Nobody, I repeat nobody talks about anyone just for the sake of fun or without hidden insecurities, there is always a reason. The most common one is envy. I know, sometimes we talk about things on factual and situational basis which is totally fine, but I am not referring to those rare miraculous instances here.

Believe it or not we do get envious of each other consciously or unconsciously. It's like second nature to us for crying out loud! Why do you think the world has become such a bitter place to live in? And this doesn't only apply to common individuals, I will go to the extent of saying nations envy nations. Or what else could explain today's perplexed state of humanity? You don't kill just for mere fun, there is always a reason. You don't attack your neighbors just because you felt like it, there is always a reason. You don't get into someone else's dirty laundry just because you are too kind hearted, there is always a reason. You don't get frustrated over certain things for absolutely no reason, like I said before there is always a reason. A reason that we never accept, a reason that we might not know ourself, a reason that makes us do vile things just because of the insecurities we harbor, a reason that seemingly turns all the wrongs in to right, a reason that is eating us all up on the inside- Envy, envy and more envy.

I am not saying that's the only thing, as I am discussing only this topic for now hence emphasizing on it. So what's the solution for it? What spell shall we cast to make it all go away and live happily ever after? To begin with there is no easy way of doing this and making it all go away overnight. After all finding, acknowledging & correcting one's own flaw hasn't always been our strongest suit. So where to begin with? For starters with just a little time alone with ourselves, trying to look into the thoughts preoccupying our mind, the opinions we have about others, gossips we can't wait to share with our best friend and most importantly why exactly do we hate the person we hate, got a solid reason for it or just because he or she is doing what you always wanted to do? Or is it the fear of that person being better off than us or simply the fear of something that isn't real, just a result of us looking for problems where none exist? Sorry if I have hit a raw nerve anywhere up there but I felt the need of letting this out. Whether it made a little or no sense whatsoever.

7 comments:

Not taking you to court - just disagreeing (or rather agreeing to a flaw you mentioned yourself i.e., I am not saying that's the only thing. To reduce evils like national enmities, hatred and backbiting is OVER simplification, FAIRLY misplaced, and sounds QUITE A BIT self-righteous. You see, Envy, as defined by you, stems from insecurities of the perpetrator towards the victim - whereas the above evils often root from a sense of superiority.

Backbiting is a branch of criticism - and quite often (though not always - as envy can be ONE of the initiating factors) criticism stems from the belief that not we know better than others. That we are right, and they are wrong. We backbite with people we know to seek further assurance that our understanding, beliefs and methods are correct.

National enmities - well that's another ball game together, which is fuelled by greed for wealth, greed for power, beliefs in self-righteousness.

Point being - your article contains some useful points. But needs to be more broad based to stand as an intellectual analysis.

First and foremost I am okay with criticism, as long as it is intellectually sound and has some basis to begin with. In the very beginning I have mentioned that I am looking at this topic in isolation and am not considering various other factors that are at play. As if I would have, then it goes far beyond the pointers you gave and would have been an utter mayhem. The whole idea of this post was over simplification actually and never did I make any vows of self-righteousness. And lastly, it was never meant to be an intellectual analysis, it was a mere (isolated) observation. I hope that eases a few of your reservations, and I shall be more peculiar next time (if I ever decide to write a post that is).